Egg-crate



(No Model.)

M. P. SMITH 8v T. L. FRESTONE.

EGG CRATE.

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tiers ot' oell trays or frames, 'l-l, with live trays UNrrED STATES Artnr @einen MILLARD F. SMITH AND TRUMAN L. FIRESTONE, OF 'FREDERICKSBURG, OHIG.

EGG-CRATE..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,215, dated March 5, 1889.

Application tiled December 20, 1888. Serial No. 294,202. [No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, MILLARD F. SMITH and TRUMAN L. FIRESTONE, citizens et the United States, residing at Fredericksburg', 'in the county of Tayne and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Egg Crates or Carriers, of which the tollowing is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The object of our invention is to provide a erate or Carrier for eggs or fruit, composed of wood, which can be cheaply constructed and so as to insure proper ventilation, and which, while light and oonvenien t, will be strong and durable. For this end we have made the improved eell crate or Carrier illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whieh- Figure l. is an elevation, part-ly in sevtion, et' my device. Fig. l is a detail plan view olf one of the eell trays or frames. liig. 3 isa partial end view of the crate to show the fastener. Figs. 4, 5, and t5 are detail views ot the component parts ot a tray or frame.

A denotes the box or crate, which preferably of proper size and shape to contain two in each tier. The box A may have openings in its sides or ends, or both, or maybe made of slats or laths nailed to solid end pieces, like an ordinaryfruit-crate, so as to secure proper ventilation. This box 'is provided with a eover, C, preferably having end cleats, c, resting on cleats o., secured to the ends of the box at distances below the upper edges of the latter equal to the vertical thiekness of. the cleats c.

The @over (l is preferably seeured in place by spring-fasteners consisting of headed bent wires d, secured in the cleats c, so as to turn freely therein and entering noizohes a.' in the cleats fr, said notches being flaring at their lower pai ts to permit the fasteners to spring laterally in fastening or unfastening. To release the Cover, the fasteners are turned to the positions shown in Fig. l, so that the cover, with the attached fasteners, can be lifted from the box, and to secure the cover in place the fasteners can be turned so that the arms or horizontal parts thereof will come beneath the olea-ts a, as shown in Fig. 3. Notehes or recesses may be provided in the cleats a,i11to whieh the arms oli the `fasteners can be sprung to prevent their accidental displacement.

Each of the trays or frames B is composed ot' two parts or sect-ions secured together, eat-.h part consisting of wooden end or supportingpieces l) and side pieces, o', and two series otnarrow and thin dividing-strips or veneers, b2, of wood, Crossing each other at right angles and halved into each other, and also halved into the side and end pieces, all of these parts being 11o' ehed, as shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, so as to be let into each other or halved together. be observed that the end or supporting pieces, l), are notched on their upper sides or reversely of the side pieces or divisionstrips into whieh they are halved, so that they solidly support all the other parts. The end and side pieces constituting the frame of the tray are considerably thicker than the division-strips, as shown in Figs. l 'and 2,1'0 give proper rigidity and strength to t-he tray. The side pieces, b', and the thin dividing-pieces b'2 are narrower vertically than the end or supporting pieees, l), so that. the two parts ot eaeh tray are separated from each other, as shown in Fig. l, to secure a tree circulation of air, the side pieces being secured to the end or supporting pieces, b, and the two parts ot each tray being secured together, preferably, by nails c2 driven into said en d pie-ees.

Between the trays are interliosed sheets e ot' Gard-board or other suitable material to separate the contents of the different trays, the trays all rtsingfirmly on their wider end or supporting pieces, so that eaeh tray or frame supports its own weight and sets solidly in the box or crate A, the latter being preferably provided with a Central partition, ai, which divides the two tiers et cell trays or fram es B from each other.

lVhen constructed asabove described, each tray or tra me is a light but praetieally solid part, and is very strong and durable, and it will be obvious that by making the frames in two separate parts they are much lighter than they would be if the division-strips and side pieces were as wide as the end pieces. Moreover, this construction secures good ventilation and results in considerable economy of material, and the narrow division strips halved together in two series are much It will` IOO stronger than a single set of wide strips halved together would be.

To make a portion of the cells of the tray adjustable or eXpansible for the reception of the larger eggs, we prefer to make a part of the halving notches of the division-strips b2, or those in the middle portions of the said strips, wider than the thickness of the strips, the latter being h'eld firmly at their end portions by the halving notches in the outer strips and in the side and end pieces in which they tightly fit. These wide notches in the middle portions only of the division-strips permit the said middle portions to be sprung somewhat either way to vary thedimensions of the cells for varying sizes of eggs, the outer cells of the tray all around the latter being non-variable, owing to the fact that the outer parts of the strips are fitted tightly together and into the side and end pieces of the tray. As but few extralarge eggs are usually found in any one lot, but few large cells will be required, and the cells which are made smaller than the average, owing to the enlargement of the other cells, will be suitable for the reception of the smallest eggs.

It will be apparent that the use of our improved cell-case will obviate the objections incidental to the use of .the card-board cellcases now largely employed, and which are liable to damage from moisture arising from the breakage of eggs or the decay of fruit, and although we do not claim ventilated cellcases or cell-eases having division-frames of wood, broadly, we believe our improved crate or cell-ease to be stronger and better than other similar crates or cell-cases heretofore made.

The .advantages of our invention might be secured, though in a lessened degree, by making the cell-frames in one part instead of two, if the supporting end pieces be made wider than the side pieces and division-strips, so as to separate one superposed tray or frame from the tray or frame beneath it. In either case it is obvious that the trays would be separated if the side pieces were the supporting-pieces and were made wider than the end pieces; but as this would be merely a reversal of the parts, we consider it to be within our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A wooden tray or cell-frame for a cell-ease, consisting of two parts secured together, each of said parts being composed of two end or supporting pieces, two side pieces, andr two series of crossing division-strips halved together and to the said end and side pieces, said division-strips and side piecesl being of less width vertically than said end Ior supporting pieces, so that the two parts of the tray lor frame and superposed trays or frames will be separated from each other, substantially as set forth- In testimony whereof we affix our sig-natures in presence of two witnesses.

MILLARDYF. SMITH.` Y TRUMAN L. FIREsroNE.

W'itnesses:

W. S. PEPPARD, B. W. SMITH. 

